The Internet provides access to a large number of systems from which beneficial and/or harmful data may be retrieved by a host computer system attached to and communicating over the Internet. Harmful data that can be accessed through the Internet includes a variety of viral software constructs, generally referred to as malicious software or malware. Malware may be downloaded to a host computer system unintentionally, for example, by and/or without the knowledge of the user of the host computer.
A host computer system that has downloaded malware may be referred to as an infected host computer system. An infected host computer system may result in possible security losses, reduction of efficiency, and/or malfunctions. Security losses may include, but are not limited to, the loss of some or all data that is accessible by the infected host computer system, the installation of additional malware onto the infected host computer system, and/or the loss of command and control of the infected host computer system. Reduction of efficiency may be incurred from, but not limited to, additional processor demand, additional memory usage, and/or additional network access by the executing malware.
The security and privacy of the user of the infected host computer system user may be compromised by malware. Both information located on the infected host computer system and/or information stored on or communicated via a local area network may be susceptible to attack by the malware. In many instances, an infected host computer may be used by the malware as a vehicle to stage an attack on other network resources that are accessible from the infected host computer system. Such an attack method is often undetected by the user of the host computer system and/or network administrators.
Loss of command and control of the infected host computer system may include performing one or more action the author of the downloaded malware may desire. For example, the malware may perform a reconnaissance of the infected host computer system, determine system privileges, access local files, access security tokens, and/or attempt infection of or access of other network resources accessible from the infected host computer system.